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Hey there,
I wanted to provide a full recap on the Season 5 storyline before we start getting information on Season 6. To do this, I will be using the player cards released and the web lore. Let's get started!
The Inciting Incident
In Season 5: New Dawn, we find ourselves in the year 2048. The world has partially recovered from the Decade of Chaos (2031-2041) thanks to the Shearwater satellites, but the War of 2042 is still ongoing. America was exposed as the perpetrator of the Blackout of 2040 and became a global pariah. Noah Wolff, CIA operative on the Non-Patriated Counterterrorism unit, was seen as the face of Operation Steadfast Refuge (a program where America uses Shearwater satellites to further her interests) and publicly outcasted. Russia and her allies took advantage of this and grew in power, something that America had to contest; thus, there was warfare throughout 2044-2048.
Around March 3rd, 2048, the inciting incident occured. An unverified transmission exposed the build up of Eastern Forces in Zlín, Czechia. To be precise, it was the group of elite fighters known as Nova Group. The faction occupied the Zlín Chemical Processing facility, which is located on a major train route. This facility has been considered Moravian Guard terrority given the faction's insignia, a blood red phoenix, found among other graffiti. The Moravian Guard are local resistance fighters and a Non-Patriated faction. Their purpose is to stand in the way of any Russian/Eastern pressure, firmly aligning themselves with America.
So, who sent this transmission, and why? It could be someone aiming to erupt Europe into a massive conflict or maybe... a warning.
In the land reclaimed, a secret in transit.
The transmission got the attention of the U.S. and tasked their Colonel Greenland (yes, the same Major Greenland from Battlefield 4's campaign) stationed in New London to oversee this operation.
Assembling Tombstone Squad
Player card attainable through reaching Season 5 Premium Battle Pass tier 8
Greenland thought to first contact Kimble "Irish" Graves, captain of the infamous MFS-04 Exodus, but he was not available. You're going to see that the Exodus No-Pats have since split up and gone their separate ways, but this conflict reunites four of them. Falck, No-Pat combat surgeon, is tasked with recruiting a squad for this operation - and she picks Wikus "Casper" Van Daele, Santiago "Dozer" Espinoza, and Pyotr "Boris" Guskovsky.
Player card attainable through reaching Season 5 Battle Pass tier 98
During the gap in time, Casper has settled down in the No-Pat homeland Namaqualand (fun fact: the name originates from the Nama tribes who lived in the Richtersveld). He's close to his home of Cape Town, South Africa but cannot return because of a court martial waiting for him. He's fearful if an attack will be launched on Namaqualand, something that Oz has unfortunately have to account for.
Player card attainable through reaching Season 5 Premium Battle Pass tier 87
Falck calls Dozer, knowing that he might not give up his current gig. He's now with the European Recovery Foundation (ERF) as a security guard. For a man who has had him and his family changing homes from disaster to disaster, this was a guaranteed home for them. But now, he had a friend in need and he knew it was important to Falck.
Player card attainable through reaching Season 5 Premium Battle Pass tier 47
Lis, a member of the Moravian Guard, approaches Boris in what appears to be his farm. In his younger years, he helped on his family's farm in Omsk but it was a losing battle given the geopolitical climate. He is now in a similar situation and so he chooses to accept Falck's request this time.
Council with the Moravian Guard
Tombstone Squad fly from New London to Zlín. Once on the ground, they are to convene with the Moravian Guard.
Player card attainable through reaching Season 5 Premium Battle Pass tier 18
They start their advance with a trusty Ranger. With Nova Group's presence in Zlín's forests, they had to have a Plan B - and they weren't near the Moravian Guard's terrority. The No-Pats have been separated for three years, which means that the Exodus task force disbanded in 2045. When they see the Guard's symbol, Falck separates from the squad and travels alone.
Player card attainable through finding the Monster and Horse graffiti on Reclaimed.
Here, we are introduced to the leader of the Moravian Guard, Brozik. He has a history with this land, witnessing the War of 2020 and how his homeland was destroyed by Admiral Chang. His upbringing had to be tarnished by the battle fought in Zlín and was a driving influence to where he is now in 2048.
Player card attainable through reaching Season 5 Premium Battle Pass tier 69
We get to look inside Falck's head as she travels to meet the Guard. She was promised information on her lost son David by the Moravian Guard, perhaps something to do with the rogue transmission that has heightened tensions. It's revealed in this card that she wouldn't have agreed to this operation, but the intel on David's whereabouts convinced her.
Player card attainable through reaching Season 5 Premium Battle Pass tier 54
Brozik gives Falck the rundown on their enemy, Nova Group, and what they're exactly up against. The Guard's reconnaissance reveals that Nordvik gear is at play, a clear disadvantage for them. Although, Falck's mind is still on David and she confirms that she'll get what she wants from this operation. She now has to return to her squad and inform them of their adversaries.
Nova Group's Discovery
Player card attainable through: 15 kills with the GEW-46 and 5 kills with the GEW-46 in one life.
Now, let's shift perspectives to Nova Group. A lone soldier is crossing the boundaires between Nova Group's terrority and the Moravian Guard's. This card is quite cryptic in the purpose of it and continuing the story line. Looking deeper, I believe that this soldier is being used to lure a Moravian Guard soldier for interrogation. And this transitions nicely into the next player card.
Player card attainable through: 15 kills with the BFP.50 and 5 kills with the BFP.50 in one life.
We are introduced to General Hamada of Nova Group and her brutal treatment of a prisoner. She knew the Guard was up to something and this soldier confirmed it: Nova Group had a rising adversary in the forest.
The Battle of Zlín and its Aftermath
Player card attainable through reaching Season 5 Battle Pass tier 66
Nova Group is not only allied to Russia and her allies but to the corporation Arkangel. They are receiving daily shipments of cerium, which might seem somewhat odd but I will get back to this later. Moravian Guard springs a surprise attack and discards some of Nova Group's shipments in the process by way of detonations. General Hamada is determined to snuff out the Guard at last.
Player card attainable through reaching Season 5 Premium Battle Pass tier 84
After the Western Forces - comprised of Moravian Guard, Tombstone Squad, No-Pats aligned with America, and American soldiers - deal a devastating defeat to Eastern Forces - featuring Nova Group, No-Pats aligned with Russia, and Russian soldiers - and push back their offensive. The Zlín Chemical Processing plant is reclaimed by the Moravian Guard. Tombstone returns to the Moravian base and Falck can finally access the information she was promised. After Casper decodes the transmission, a unfamiliar voice says, "Irish, if you're out there, we need your help." This must've been a depressing discovery for Falck because she didn't get any more intel on David. However, since the unknown voice says "we," one could assume that David could be a part of this mysterious group that sent the inciting transmission.
Player card attainable by finding the secret on Reclaimed.
Speaking of this mysterious group of people, this player card is from the point of view of them. It appears to be another transmission from this group to Tombstone Squad. We learn that this group is working with the Moravian Guard. We also find out that "faithful warriors will descend and secure what they have lost." This is a reference to Arkangel and their private militia "Arkangel Legion." They continue to say that the Legionnaires, with their recovered assets, "will continue west, to a place far below." I think this is a direct hint of the Season 6 map.
The Legion Has Been Deployed
Now, I am going to shift into the lore surrounding the Arkangel Directive event.
Player card attainable through earning 10 ribbons during Week 1 the Arkangel Directive event
This card acts as an introduction to Arkangel and how it has amassed such an influence it has. Arkangel is an evolution of the shadow organization known as the Dark Market (introduced in Season 2: Master of Arms). The Dark Market is still present and shares its resources with Arkangel. A long time partner of the Dark Market, Nordvik, is also involved with Arkangel, using its technological prowess to "guide humanity to a better future."
The name of this card is referenced in the lore webpage titled "Arkangel Reports." Here's the section in question:
Neural link technologies and prosthetics division: The team has done phenomenal work on the rollout of our “Warriors Reborn” initiative. We have restored more than 20,000 soldiers to full operational capacity through the application of our enhanced prosthetics. It is worth highlighting Boreas’ research in this field promises revolutionary developments and heralds a paradigm shift (my emphasis added) in infantry warfare.
So, this directly links Arkangel's "Warriors Reborn" initiative with the company's "biggest impact [that] was yet to come." The card also mentions that this impact "would be felt on the battlefield." To me, this signifies that this major lore development could affect the gameplay in Season 6.
In the quote above, there's also a mention of someone named "Boreas." This is a character who has been introduced in Season 5 and has ties to Nordvik. Take a look at this quote from Oscar Bergman, Vice President and Co-Founder of Nordvik:
"Boreas? That's an old investment. But if any other project were ever to come back to haunt us, it would be that one."
As you can tell, whatever Boreas has worked on under Nordvik is something that could be used in a malicious way. In fact, we can make an educated guess and say that Boreas' research was in the connection of advanced prosthetics to neural links. These exact technologies are being used in the "Warriors Reborn" initiative, where injured soldiers can be revitalized.
Season 6's Map
As mentioned in the "Never Back Down" player card, Arkangel's Legionnaires will guide the assets located at the Zlín Chemical Processing plant to somewhere west and far below. I believe that the next map will be the "Warriors Reborn" operation center. It's an underground base where Boreas continues his work of helping soldiers gravely injured. This base also acts as a sort of "training ground" where after these soldiers have been fitted with prosthetics, they can train and adapt to their newfound abilities.
In the recent Update 5.2.0, there have been player cards datamined by a friend of mine named Gene. These cards seem to be involved with the upcoming easter egg.
The first card is from the point of view of Boreas. He is training an AI that he made, presumably to run this facility. In the player card background, we can see on both sides of the hallway a row of server cabinets, which could be what A.O.S runs of or uses for her operations. There appears to be three displays in the far distance with the same image on them. This could be presenting A.O.S. itself in a visual form or could be some surveillance capture of the facility.
The second card could be from the point of view of a soldier that successfully recieved treatment. This person notices that the sky above them is fake and then there is a mention of barracks. Oh, remember how I said I would return to the strange shipments of cerium? Cerium is used for low-energy light bulbs and my theory is that cerium is used to produce that "fake sky." I believe this person is in the portion of the facility where they train with their prosthetics and ready themselves to serve for Arkangel.
This is where I'm going to end it. I know this was really long, but I hope you enjoyed. If you have any questions or theories I'd love to hear them in the comments.
Edit: thanks for the awards!
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